Title:Remembering Floyd Nightingale
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Jess is a nurse, with a doctor for a girlfriend. He's older, more mature, and has made friends with the people he works with. So, the one thing to sour his life? Rory Gilmore. However, she doesn't seem to remember much, as she might have amnesia.
A/N: This chapter is short, but once I hit ten reviews for it, I will post the next one.

Dedicated to Asa and Lydia, who are kick-ass and awesome and tell me I'm brilliant and fabulous. Kudos, girls!

----

Jess woke up late the next morning with a crick in his neck and Rory's head in his lap. Confused, he glanced around and eventually realized they'd fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. And they'd fallen asleep there because Rory had cried herself to sleep after her mother had hung up on her.

Jess didn't want it to be true, but he knew it was. He just couldn't figure out why. Absentmindedly, he started stroking Rory's hair as he watched her sleep. She looked peaceful, though her tears had left streaks on her cheeks.

The phone next to Jess's hand rang, and he picked it up quickly so it didn't wake Rory.

"Hello?" he croaked, his voice full of sleep.

"Mr. Mariano, we're waiting for you," a woman's voice sang teasingly.

"Shit," Jess muttered. "How late am I?"

"Only about an hour," Julianne said, "but don't worry. The boss just noticed."

Jess sighed. "Can I talk to her?"

"Oops, no. She just went upstairs to a meeting. But she did say to tell you that you are not allowed to stay home today. She said that reporter woman is coming by for a follow-up."

Jess groaned. "Her again?"

"Yep!"

"Well, thanks anyway, Julianne," Jess said.

"Anytime!"

Jess hung up the phone slowly. He thought for a second, and then glanced at the girl in his lap. He was going to have to do something with her. He lifted her head slightly and tried to edge out from under her, but she sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist. He attempted to leave again, this time holding her arms and head away from him. He managed to get out from her grasp, and he lowered her head so it was resting directly on the couch. A look of displeasure passed over her face, but she settled down. Jess let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and headed for his room to get ready.

--

Rory awoke hours later, her cheeks tight from her crying binge. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and groaned at the crick in her neck. She glanced around her surroundings, deciding she'd fallen asleep while Jess was consoling her on the couch. But now she was alone.

She slowly got up, stretching, and checked all of the surfaces around her for a note. Eventually, she gave up, and padded into the kitchen where, taped to the handle on the coffeepot, was Jess's note. Very simply it said something about coffee grounds in a cupboard, satsumas on the dining table, and Jess had to run into work; he'd be back by five or so.

She wasn't sure what to do, so she set about making coffee. A few minutes later, with her cup full and her mind curious, she started to explore his apartment. She'd already checked out the books in the spare room, so she decided to dig a little deeper and snoop through Jess's bedroom. He had yet another full bookcase in there, packed to the brim. Some of them were repeats, and after pulling a few down, she discovered that these were the ones he read over and over again; the margins were almost completely black and blue, they were so full.

She moved on from the bookcase and towards his closet. She'd learned that closets were usually the best judge of someone's character, as they generally contained all the crap no one could bring themselves to throw away. Deciding that this was going to be an in-depth investigation, she decided to put her cup on the dining table and grab a chair--the best stuff was higher up.

She rummaged around for a few minutes, finding a few things: an invitation to Luke and Lorelai's wedding, birth announcements from Jess's mother and Luke, and an invitation to her own wedding. It was this one that startled her the most; she knew she'd been engaged, but she hadn't really thought about it. The wedding date was a year after her graduation date, and the invitation was the fanciest thing she'd ever seen. Luke and Lorelai's wedding invitation had been much simpler, and had ended with a notation saying casual attire was expected. Rory's own wedding invitation ended by saying that both black-tie attire and the invitation were required to enter the church.

After a few minutes of shocked staring, she hurriedly returned it to its spot and searched for more things. She found Jess's GED, his diploma from nursing school, and a few articles talking about his book. She'd just discovered a worn, full journal when there was a loud crash outside. Startled, she tried to put the journal down and get down from her chair at the same time. She was flustered, though, and got tangled up in her own arms and legs, and then she slipped from the chair sideways, hit her head on the side of Jess's metal bookcase, and eventually landed, unconscious, half on the floor of Jess's room, half on the chair.

--

Jess felt a little guilty; he hadn't hurried home right after his interview and shift, but had instead gone out for a drink with Ben. He'd ended up spilling the story of the last few days to his best friend, who had responded with a dry, "Uh-huh." Everything had been fodder for hospital gossip since his and Camille's huge blow-up in the middle of the hallway.

But after a few too many drinks and a couple of hours, Jess finally made it home. He opened the door slowly and didn't hear Rory, nor did he call out; he was almost dreading seeing her again. So much had happened since she'd reappeared in his life, and he didn't think it was particularly good. So he took his time taking off his coat and searching through his mail. He walked slowly to his bedroom, purposely avoiding the spare room and the kitchen, both places Rory was likely to be. He pushed the door open and didn't look inside for a second, still flipping through his mail. Finally, he glanced up and couldn't believe what he saw.